Sad news in soccer yesterday as Europol , Europe's law enforcement agent, has found 380 suspicious soccer matches in Europe and around 300 outside of Europe during an 18 month span. According to ESPN, Europol was able to find over $10.9 million in betting profits and $2.7 million in player bribes that have led to charges being laid out. "Focus has been on other countries, not the United Kingdom" Europol director Rob Wainwright said about where these investigations have been taking place. That does not mean that England is clean as there are one or two Champions League matches that were hosted in England that look suspicious. According to Wainwright, the source of the crime was based in Singapore and most of the betting was done in Germany where over $21.7 million was wagered during the time period.
Now this leads to a very serious problem that not only questions the integrity of both International and Domestic soccer but also messes with the psyche of many Europeans. People over there take soccer so seriously and use it as a way to express their national identity as well as their pride in their town or region (especially Catalan). Fixing soccer games is obviously attractive because of the amount of money that can be drawn in as well as the emotional uplifting it can have on an area. If this continues soccer will certainly use its value and if this grows to the point of Professional Wrestling, maybe American Football will take over in Europe?
NBA Recap
In a little more of a scoring game the 12-35 Wizards upset the 34-16 Clippers 98-0. Jamal Crawford of the Clippers scored a game-high 28 points. Deandre Jordan of LA and Emeka Okafor of Washington put on a rebound clinic grabbing 22 and 14 boards respectively.
The Bulls lost their first game in awhile as they fell to the Pacers 111-101. David West led the Pacers with 29 points while Marco Belinelli's 24 points made him the leading scorer for the Bulls.
At Madison Square Garden the Knicks took a 28-13 lead over the Pistons after the 1st quarter and never looked back winning the game 99-85. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 27 points while Tyson Chandler grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds. For the 18-31 Pistons, Jose Calderon led the action with 15 points.
Lebron James scored 31 points for the Heat as the Bobcats somehow managed to make the game close. The game had a pretty impressive 64 points scored in the 4th quarter. Dwayne Wade led the Heat with 12 assists and Ramon Sessions scored 18 points for the Bobcats. Charlotte is currently on the bubble for an at large bid in the NCAA tournament.
The Thunder beat the Mavs pretty hard last night as the struggling Mavericks fell 112-91. Russel Westbrook led the Thunder with 24 points and 7 assists and Kevin Durant grabbed 10 rebounds. For the Mavericks Shawn Marion scored 23.
The Timberwolves outscored the Trail Blazers 40-23 in the 4th quarter but still came up 2 points short of overtime. Dante Cunningham missed an 18-footer for with about no time on the clock that would have sent the game to overtime. Lamarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds although he missed 2 critical free throws that could have put the game out of reach. Ricky Rubio of Minnesota had 15 points and 14 assists.
The last game of the night took place in Utah as the Jazz defeated the Kings 98-91 in overtime. The Jazz won the overtime period 14-7 and the win can be contributed to Randy Foye's 20 points. Jason Thompson scored 23 points and grabbed 10 boards in the losing effort.
All NBA
Guard- Nate Robinson- Chicago Played a pointguards game dishing out 9 assists while not committing a single turnover in the loss. Shot 7-15 from the field and 2-2 from the line on his way to 19 points. The little guy also grabbed 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Guard- Paul George- Indiana Got 7 points at the free throw line on 8 attempts while also going 2-4 from 3pt land for a total of 21 points. His 4 turnovers are a little high but he did block 2 shots and get 2 steals. Rebound wise he had 11 and he also chipped in 5 assists.
Forward- Lebron James- Miami *Player of the Night* Only missed one shot going 13 of 14 and also went 5-6 from the free throw line. Committed a high 5 turnovers but his stellar offensive play made up for it. He had 8 rebounds and 8 assists to add to his very efficient night.
Forward- David West- Indiana Indian's second player on the list and boy does he deserve it. His 29 points were second in the league to Lebron's 31 but he did take a lot more shots going 11-18. The big man was an okay 7-10 from the charity stripe while adding 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal.
Center- LaMarcus Aldridge- Portland Almost killed his team with two free throw misses at the end of the game last night. In fact, he was only 1-5 from the line but his 70.6% from the field made up for it as he scored 25 points. His 13 rebounds and 5 assists also help everyone forget about the missed free throws.
NHL Recap
Another light night of games in Hockey but fortunately the Canucks played so we get to do Canucks goalie watch and tomorrow since the Flyers play we get to count Schenn's turnovers, yipppp-eeeeeee.
Actual hockey now, the Hurricanes improved .500 beating the Hurricanes 4-1. Cane's goalie Cam Ward was busy last night facing 42 shots.
Jamie Benn scored two goals and an added an assist as the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2.
The Coyotes have gained a point in 5 straight games after their 2-1 win against Minnesota. Zach Parise scored the Wild lone goal, his 6th of the year.
Chris Tanev scored for the Canucks in overtime as they improved to 5-2-2 with a 3-2 win over the Oilers. Luongo got the start for the Nucks.
| Ducks' Hero |
The night cap was in Anaheim and the Ducks handed the Sharks their first regulation loss with a 2-1 win. Both of the Ducks' goals came in the 3rd period and Sheldon Souray's goal with 7 minutes left gave them the advantage.
Vancouver Goalie Watch
Cory Schneider: 4GP, 4GS, 2-2 W/L, 3.13 GAA
Currently looking like the backup even though he started the season as the #1.
Roberto Luongo: 6 GP, 5GS, 3-0-2 W/L/OTL/ 1.53 GAA
Pretty Confident to say that he is the starter right now.
Advantage: Roberto Luongo
All NHL Team
| I Hope this is the right Sedin |
Forward- Henrik Sedin- Vancouver Not much offense as he only got three shots off but he did assist on the game-winning goal. His high rating came mostly from his 18-5 record at the dot while he finished the game with a +1 rating.
Forward- Eric Staal- Carolina Scored one goal on the powerplay and boy did he try to score launching 5 pucks on net. Played stellar defense as well getting 3 takeaways, blocking one shot, and knocking down two Maple Leafs in the 4-1 Cane win.
Forward- Logan Couture- San Jose Kind of odd to see the Sharks play and Patrick Marleau of Joe Tornton be on the list but that is the case here. Couture scored 2 minutes into the game as the Sharks lone goal.He also had two hits and finished the game with a +1 rating.
Forward- Chris Higgins- Vancouver Had one assist last night but made his mark defensively recording 3 takeaways and 2 hits.
Defense- Kevin Bieksa- Vancouver The third Canuck on this list scored one goal. The usual second pair defensemen saw huge minutes last night (25) and put them to good use blocking 5 shots and recording 4 hits.
Defense- Keith Yandle- Phoenix Derek Morris is the usual from d-man from Phoenix on this list but Yandle had a good game recording an assist and finishing the game +1. Also blocked 3 shots.
Defense- Stephane Robidas- Dallas One hard name to read for sure but he is the third and final defensemen.
Finished the game with a +2 rating while blocking one shot and getting one takeway.
Goalie- Niklas Backstrom- Minnesota Unluckily he got the loss but his offense only got 22 shots off compared to the 34 he faced. Saved 32 of them.
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